Worldwide News

SAM is pleased to team with more than 50 drug-prevention groups and agencies in Missouri to present the Missouri Marijuana Prevention Tour! Hitting the road May 5-9 with Missouri preventionists — five cities in as many days — are Dr. Christian Thurstone, a SAM board member, and his wife, longtime journalist Christine Tatum, who works with drug-prevention organizations to help them develop more effective messaging for public awareness and education.Further readingMore international news

A study of calls for assistance to poison control center, published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, reveals dramatic increases for help with pediatric accidental ingestion of marijuana in states that legalized or decriminalized it.Further readingMore international news

Nearly one in five students at an Ivy League university have misused ADHD drugs to improve their school performance, according to a new poll being presented Saturday at the Pediatric Academic Societies' annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada. The lead researcher, Andrew Adesman, declined to name the college he surveyed, saying that he's confident that the rate is virtually the same at every other school.Further readingMore international news

New research suggests that, even without a match, some popular e-cigarettes get so hot that they, too, can produce a handful of the carcinogens found in cigarettes and at similar levels.Further readingMore international news

Lowe's corporate executives should have a hard discussion with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and economic-development offices in the cities where their stores operate in this state. Why? Because Lowe's doesn't want to hire people who can't pass drug tests — and here in Cannabis, er, Colorful Colorado, the company is greeted with too many job applicants who test positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.Further readingMore international news

Mike Sabin, MP for Northland said he is hoping to see 'backyard chemists' and drug peddlers' who manufacture psychoactive substances put out of business, when he spoke in the urgent passing of legislation to remove the remaining 41 psychoactive substances from the shelves in Parliament tonight.

"Over the last 20 years, countries all over the world have been dealing with an acceleration in the development of new forms of so called 'recreational drugs' creating a cat and mouse effect for legislators and authorities trying to respond to the impacts of these drugs, says Mr Sabin, a former police detective and founder of a drug education and policy group.

"This original Bill to deal with these substances was passed last year and was pioneering stuff, as it reversed the burden of proof to the manufacturers and suppliers of substances, meaning they had to demonstrate that what they want to supply is low risk – or it won't be able to make it to market.

"Up until now the peddlers of these substances have sought to avoid legislation by altering their chemical compounds without any regard for the harm that they may cause, essentially making New Zealand youth the guinea pigs in their science experiments.

"Scores of products with unknown effects and unknown risk profiles have made their way through this gap in the regulatory net and ended up on dairy counters alongside lollies," says Mr Sabin.

"The law change last year saw the removal of hundreds of products from the shelves and required that they went through a rigorous process to prove they were low risk, but 41 products remained available with temporary approval because they had not been identified as causing harm previously.

"As we all now know, even these products have shown to be harmful and I am delighted to see this legislation enacted to remove the last of these products.

The Bill also removed the provision for animal testing as part of the clinical trial process to prove low harm and will prohibit the use of information which has been derived through the use of animal testing done in New Zealand and off shore.

"This means the drug manufacturers will have to reach a higher standard to advance their products to human clinical trials and I think that's a good thing. This is not about serving the interests of drug makers, it's about saying they have to prove they are of low risk and if that costs them millions of dollars and takes years, all the better in my book" says Mr Sabin

"Now that this legislation is passed all the remaining products will have to be off the shelf as at 1201 am on Thursday morning and they won't be coming back unless they can prove they are low risk. That means they aren't capable of causing addiction, therefore not capable of creating a high which leads to it, let alone the other harmful psychotic effects.

"This is difficult territory and a challenging area of law that the whole world is struggling with, but today government found a way through and our communities had a win and good on them for standing up and saying no more.

"We should however all remember that the only safe drug use is no drug use. I hope this Bill not only puts suppliers and manufacturers of these substances out of business, but helps change the culture of relying on drug and substance abuse to have fun that synthetic stimulants has helped create."

Uruguay has finally released its rules for the legal marijuana market it is launching this year, detailing how the government plans to get very involved in every aspect of the business. But anyone hoping the South American nation will become a pot-smoker's paradise should probably head to Colorado instead, President Jose Mujica suggested on Friday.Further readingMore international news

The number of hash explosions in Colorado have skyrocketed in Colorado since the sale of recreational marijuana was legalized on Jan. 1, according to a CBS4 investigation.Further readingMore international news